Remington’s
New R51 9x19mm Plus P Semi-Automatic Pistol

by Jeff Quinn

photography by Jeff Quinn & Boge Quinn

January 2nd, 2014

Click pictures for a larger version.

Grip safety.

Ambidextrous magazine release.

Slide lock.

About three weeks ago, I was shooting with a
few other writers and some of the folks from Freedom Group out
at Gunsite in Arizona. Gunsite
is one of the top training facilities in the world in which
military and civilians can learn to fight with a firearm. The
first two days were dedicated to firing rifles and shotguns, but
on the third day, Remington introduced to us their new R51
semi-automatic pistol.

The R51 is based upon the Pederson design, as
was the original Remington Model 51 of many decades ago. The
original was chambered for the 32 and 380 ACP cartridges, but
the new R51 is redesigned to handle the pressures of 9x19mm Plus
P ammunition, making it much more effective as a fighting
pistol. The R51 is constructed of aluminum and steel; no polymer
frame on this one. It is thin, utilizing a single-stack
magazine. The R51 is compact, yet large enough to handle the
recoil of shooting 9mm +P loads all day long. In fact, at
Gunsite, I most likely put between 300 and 400 rounds through
one of these pistols, as well as running a couple of magazines
through several others. In total, the writers present ran
several cases of 9mm ammo through about ten pistols. These were
pre-production pistols, but problems were minimal, and quickly
alleviated with a light cleaning and lubrication. The R51 is
easy to shoot, and easy to shoot well.

Look for a full review soon on Gunblast.com,
as soon as a production pistol arrives for a thorough
evaluation.

Check
out the R51 and other firearms, ammunition,and accessories online at www.remington.com.